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REVIEWS

Album: The Meantime

Reviewed by: Mike DeGagne

Delightfully melding the intricacies of progressive rock with the familiarity
of classic rock, Pennsylvania's The Meantime have plenty to offer for fans of
both genres on their latest self-titled release. The fourteen tracks that are
strewn across the album range in topics, from Superman to space to machinery,
but all manage to tickle the fancy of those who own music by bands like Yes,
Kansas, and Marillion.

The Meantime definitely harbor a neo-prog sound, but the modern feel to their
progressive music contains enough old-school prog-rock fragments to recognize
their influences within each song. The brain trust of the band is comprised
of Tom Yacko and Chuck Gates, who are the masterminds behind the writing, singing,
playing and arranging of the music. Other musicians have joined and contributed
along the way (a la The Alan Parsons Project, if you will). While these individuals
represent the flesh and blood of The Meantime's music, the band took advantage
of the wonders of technology to garner the group's sophisticated yet pleasing
sound. Computers, hard drives, and the like played a big part in the album's
manufacturing, and was admittedly a challenging but entertaining endeavor.

The album opens with "The Life And Death of Superman," combining
the hard edge of guitar and drums with the sincerity of the vocals. The song
switches from a rockier thrust to a spotlight of upfront guitar and time changes
as it plays out. The bass line, poignant and effective, keeps the song bouncing
and steady at the same time, while the percussion gives the track a great bottom
end that flows Rush-like as the song advances. Most of all, the pleasing string
work that represents the slight change in pulse is what gives the song its real
character and progressive flavor.

Following the opener, "The Intricacy Of Flight" gets a little more
proggy, sparkling with Yes-style musical partitions and strong vocal work that
soars above the music itself. With a little bit of a lighter feel, the song
sparks images of cloud-basked skies and the wonderment of flying. The keyboard
colorings in the background help to shape the tune's beautiful aura, while the
weightlessness of the slight guitar jangle throughout nails home the song's
intentions.

On "Breathing Helium", the band offers up one of the most radio-friendly
cuts on the album. A slower offering, this tune highlights The Meantime's ability
to craft a well-structured rock song with a catchy chorus and punchy guitar
work. "Welcome To The Universe" follows in the same vein almost.
There's a definite Alan Parsons and Pink Floyd element to the track's mellow,
day dreamy effervescence, with lyrics that take the listener on a bit of an
interstellar trip.

The catchiest track, entitled "The Big Machine," utilizes a funkier
bass line and sharp, edgy musical flow to grasp the listener's attention. Again,
the slight changes in signatures give the song its character, along with the
crisp drum work that kicks through the plane of the song's run. "Event
Horizon," the last and longest track clocking in at just over six minutes,
is a closer that mirrors some of Yes's work from the 1980's. The song is counterbalanced
by its rock foundation musically, underneath the elevation of the vocals that
propel the song forward.

The album's concept of flight, both in a literal and physical sense, is well
maintained as the album unravels. Helium, the Sun, Superman, medication, and
a mezzanine all contribute to The Meantime's main idea of being above the ground
in one way or another. Prog lovers will be fascinated with the band's ability
to inject each track with a common thread. The Meantime have established a fulfilling
album that contains enough elements to please fans of many musical styles.

Album: The Meantime

Review by Mike Korn

The Meantime are now four albums into their career, so it's obvious they didn't
fall off the turnip truck just yesterday. They are seasoned musicians who are
in firm control of their instruments and well-versed in songcraft. This self-titled
effort is their newest and by the time these fourteen tracks are done, any questions
the listener might have about The Meantime will be answered.

The band itself can perhaps be described as more of a project, with Tom Yacko
and Chuck Gates being the prime movers and songwriters. This talented duo then
bring aboard a number of session players to help bring the songs to life.

Categorization seems to be a necessary evil in these days of a million micro-genres
but the most honest word to describe The Meantime is the broadest: pure rock
music. The material here runs the gamut from crunchy hard rock to acoustic balladry
to expansive progressive rock, hitting many of the points in between. Variety
is an important facet of this release and a big part of what makes it an interesting
listen. It's not 50 minutes of grinding metal or folksy balladry, there's something
for just about everyone. In fact, there might be a little bit too much of everything
mixed into this bubbling cauldron.

Specific influences heard here include the 80's/90's period Rush, 70's prog
like Yes and Gentle Giant, a touch of Beatle-esque melody and some of the acoustic
rock like Phish and Dave Matthews Band. Along with just a sprinkle of Seattle
grunge. Never does The Meantime sound like a bald knock-off of any of the above,
which is definitely to their credit.

The record kicks off with the hard rocking, bass-driven "The Life and
Death of Superman." Not quite metal, this still packs a hard punch, though
the lead vocals are solidly melodic and on the poppy side. The singing is not
going to blow you away, but the range and emotion are there. "The Intricacy
of Flight" is a sprightly mix of rock and acoustic, while "Beyond
The Pale" cools things down nicely with a very pretty ballad that has a
folky appeal. Three songs in and we've already seen several different sides
to the band. "My New Medication" follows with yet another aspect...a
compact and crunchy hard rocker that throws in some brass to give things a funky
vibe. This song is surely one of the standouts.

"Disappear" continues the funk feeling with a rubbery bass groove
that could almost be out of the Red Hot Chili Peppers' songbook. It's another
fine track that merges hard rock, funk and pop into something smooth and creamy.
Like a pendulum, the album swings towards something lighter with "Here,"
a ballad with vocals reminiscent of Yes' Jon Anderson and some soothing violin.

After "Here", the album makes a shift into proggier, stranger territory.
Many of the song titles such as "Dying Scientists," "Welcome
to the Universe" and "Event Horizon" suggest science fictional
themes and I wonder if there is a concept bridging some of these tracks. Some
of these later cuts seem to meander and lose their way, with "View From
A Mezzanine," "Welcome To The Universe" and "Event Horizon"
in particular rambling and not seeming as tightly written as the first half
of the album. However, the musicianship remains top notch and there are still
some gems to be uncovered, like the very spacey "Dying Scientists",
where synths add a cosmic touch, and the Pink Floydish ballad "Breathing
Helium."

At the end of the day, I can recommend this varied and ambitious collection
of tunes to any fan of classic and progressive rock. Rating: 4 stars (out of
5)

Album: The Meantime

Review by Reed Burnam

PA-based progressive rock outfit The Meantime's most recent album is big. From
the outset of the opening track to the album's last notes, listeners are treated
to a wealth of original songwriting, diverse stylistic influences, and spot-on
musicianship courtesy (in the main) of multi-instrumentalists Tom Yacko and
Chuck Gates. Together, the two perform most of the vocals, instruments, and
arrangements, supported by a small cast of musicians filling out the roster.
With The Meantime, the band has managed to assemble an ambitious and exciting
fourth album for their growing back-catalogue.

With so many things going for it, it's hard to know just where to begin with
The Meantime. Let's start with genre, a topic of discussion taken up by the
band on their webpage. An excerpt from the band's online posting "What
is Progressive Rock?" tells their story in the most pleasingly economical
way: "We have endeavored to create music." And that's just what they
have done. Structurally, though the songs retain familiar concepts such as verses
and choruses, most of the album's tracks tend to run upwards of the four-minute
mark, featuring multiple parts, hooks, and phrases. And then there's the loose
topical concepts underlying all the album's content (liner notes on the band's
website note a recurrence of certain themes coloring all the tracks on The Meantime),
as well as an impressive eight-part, five-track suite dedicated to the life
and death of the sun that occupies nearly half the album.

So is it progressive? Sure it is, but unlike occasional complaints against
the genre, the myriad changes and shifts here don't detract from the underlying
cohesion of the album, nor do they seem forced in order to fit a particular
mold. Rather, The Meantime simply endeavors to create, well, music, and as such
is all over the map with refreshingly honest originality and plenty of nods
to multiple influences. And they are here in ample supply: on any given listen,
one is able to discern the influence of classic prog staples such as Yes, Rush,
and Kansas, but then there's also Brit popsters The Beatles and The Kinks, classic
rock staples such as Pink Floyd and The Who, and even edgy post-punk melody-makers
like XTC. Still, the band's sound is never lost in the forest for the trees,
and though one is sure to hear all manner of influences informing Yacko and
Gates' songwriting, their own unique sound always rings clearest.

Given the amount of things happening, The Meantime is a pleasantly intricate
and rewards repeat listens. The album shifts tempos, pitch, and hue often enough
that the listener is sure to be kept interested. Upbeat, borderline anxious
rock pieces (see "Disappear" or album opener "The Life and Death
of Superman") occupy space alongside spacey and slightly jazzy interludes
("Eight Minutes", "Welcome to the Universe") and anthemic,
synth-driven, classically proggy arrangements ("Dying Scientists").
Longer, more involved numbers such as "The Intricacy of Flight" and
"View from a Mezzanine" sit easily next to the breezy, 70's AM feel
of "Here", or the hummable gem "Beyond the Pale." The songwriting
and musicianship is top-notch across the entire album; there's nothing sloppy
or second-rate here, from the instrumentation down to the vocal harmonies.

The one complaint that could be brought against The Meantime might be in its
production value: a band with this much talent and this much to say might benefit
from recording in a larger studio (the album was recorded at home). Not to suggest
that The Meantime suffers from poor production value; far from it. However,
there are points in the album when a "bigger" and more polished sound
might have enhanced the more epic qualities of the content even further.

Lyrically, The Meantime is rich in introspective and often philosophical musings
about life and reality. Some lines reflect an almost weary reflection on aging,
like these lines from "Beyond the Pale": "Lately it would seem
that I've been everywhere and everywhere I go; While I'm seeking out the differences,
I've seen them all before". Others seem to suggest an apprehensive look
into an unknown future, such as these lines from "My New Medication":
"Can you recognize the sound of shuffling in the underground? Indications
are the system's shutting down; Breathe in, breathe out, run like hell".
According to the band's website, the album is a loose concept piece based on
themes of "failing or fading light, stars and worlds", with "ideas
of Gods and angels sprinkled in for good measure". These themes are captured
in the last five songs on the album, dedicated to the life cycle of the sun.

In all, The Meantime is a great album, full of catchy riffs, soaring harmonies,
and airtight musicianship. Rating: 4 Stars (out of 5)